bpm
by Aiko-Chan SoT
Summary: It's still beating, isn't it?" After a second, Tails nodded, and Sonic lifted his hand again, placing it over his own heart. "And mines still beating. We're alive, Tails." He smiled. "And our hearts are beating to tell us that." SonicxTails bro oneshot


_Okay, I have no idea where this story came from. I just started writing, typing away, and this is what happened. The plotline isn't really clear, but I'll explain at the end of the story for those who don't fully understand what happened post-story. But I'm actually proud of this. I don't know what genre to put it under. It's like a drabble, but it's different. Mostly, it just goes through a series of moments Tails and Sonic have after a horrific accident in which Tails is nearly killed and recovering. It's just little random talks and moments they share, and more of what happened in the accident is revealed. _

_I hope you enjoy it as much as I did. Some of it isn't too clear, but you know. And sorry it's taken me so long to update my new story. :) Been really busy, but I'll update it soon, I promise. :)_

**b(eats)p(er)m(inute)  
**_**by aiko-chan sot**_

The marker made the softest noise as it was rubbed in a particular pattern across the cast. Letters were formed with it, formed with absolute care, and it dried quickly, the wet black fading almost immediately and soaking into the fabric. With one last curve at the end, the artist stepped back, admiring his name placed into the cast, and then grinned, however forced, his green eyes looking up.

"There, perfect," he said, glancing down at his name. _Sonic the Hedgehog_, written in elegant writing the hedgehog had practiced during the days he waited. He had been the first to be asked to sign it, long before it was put on, and he held true to that promise. His name was the only one that decorated the green cast upon his arm. Green eyes flickered gently, patting the cast with extreme care. "How's that look, Tails?"

Blue eyes flickered from green to the cast around his arm. He smiled, using his unshattered arm to gently trace the curves and lines of his best friends name. He was silent for a moment before he spoke softly. "It's brillant, Sonic." The voice sent a jolt of pain down the hedgehog's spine. How he would miss the voice he was used to before the accident... But he hid the grief and guilt that came with the thought, and continued his forced smile, nodding.

"I practiced." Simply stated. They both knew how and when he practiced, and neither wanted to bring up the time. It was something they would have problems remembering - or _wanting_ to remember - for awhile, and neither were ready to cross that bridge yet. The room feel silent, the only noises coming faintly from the hallway as nurses rushed from room to room. Sonic waited, listening for their nurse to come. He shifted his wait impatiently. There was nothing he wanted more than to go home. Go home and forget about all of this.

But he would never be able to forget.

He shook the thought from his head as the door creaked open and the familar nurse stepped into the room. She smiled kindly at Sonic, and he returned the smile, however forced again, and watched as she prepared Tails to leave. She removed the I.V., checked the position of his casts, and checked his vitals. After around twenty minutes, the two found themselves outside the hospital, Tails in a wheelchair, and Sonic pushing him up the hill to home.

**xxx**

"Dammit, Tails, what don't you understand about _not...moving_."

Sonic muttered beneath his breath as he once again pushed Tails back into his resting position, scolding him. Tails huffed again, and if he had full control of his arms, he would cross them, pouting up at Sonic like he was four again. Sonic couldn't help but smile at the thought, how aggravating Tails would become with his four-year-old act.

"But I can't _stand _sitting her all day!" he exclaimed, and once again, Sonic imagined his arms moving with his words. The image kept the smile on his face. "Theres nothing to do!" Sonic shook his head, throwing a soft pillow at the kitsune, who growled and threw it to the floor with his unbroken arm.

"Well, the doctors said not much movement for at least two weeks," he explained, heading into the kitchen to grab another soda for the kitsune, as he had drunk the last one. "We need to keep that rib from breaking in anyway we can." The hedgehog opened the fridge, vaguely aware of the kitsunes whines in the background, and reached in to clutch the soda in his hand. He took out the kitsunes soda and shut the fridge behind him.

Walking back into the living room, to the still complaining fox, Sonic put on his best smile and handed his younger brother the drink. Tails jerked it from his hands angrily, muttering crossly as he opened it and sipped it. Sonic chuckled slightly before sitting down next to him.

"I'll never get used to hearing your voice like that," Sonic said, out-of-the-blue like, surprising even himself at the suddenness of it. In that accident, the explosion had injured Tails' larynx, a tiny piece of metal piercing his throat, narrowly missing the jugular vein, and instead piercing his voice box. Tails said nothing for awhile.

"I know..." he said finally, quietly, almost sheepishly. "I'll...probably never get used to it either. I can't stand not hearing myself like I used to. It's like listening to another person talk." Sonic glanced at Tails, his green eyes focused on the scar almost directly beneath his chin, where the metal had been removed so carefully. Sonic remembered how they told him just another inch, and they would have lost more than just a voice. He swallowed at the thought.

"But it could have been worse," Sonic said quietly, and after a second, Tails nodded, agreeing.

"Yeah...it could have been way worse..."

**xxx**

"How much longer until I can get out of this cast?"

"The doctor said another week and it comes off. Just be patient."

Tails huffed loudly. Lately he was acting more and more like a child, just because he knew it got on Sonic's nerves. So lately, Sonic pretended to just ignore it. It wasn't working. Tails continued to do it, as if he could see past Sonic's facade. They were taking a walk through the woods, their first outing since his accident, and Sonic was pushing Tails along in his wheelchair. They both were waiting for the day, only another week, that Tails would be able to walk on his own, his leg cast removed.

"I hate it. I wish they would take it off." Sonic sighed as he swerved past another log.

"Me too," he murmured, and Tails tipped his head back and glared at Sonic. The hedgehog grinned back down at him, purposely running over a rock to jar him a little. Tails started, yelping slightly as if he felt himself falling, but Sonic had a firm grip on him. The hedgehog laughed aloud, and Tails groaned. Then their walk was in silence.

After a few minutes, Tails looked back at him, tipping his head to the side in thought. Sonic looked down at him, slowing their walk down slightly. Tails stared at him, and Sonic narrowed his eyes. "What?"

Tails shook his head. "Nothing." He turned back around, watching the trees silently and thoughtfully. Sonic watched him in confusion, watching the way his blue eyes glimmered and shined in thought. He felt a pang of sadness. He did that alot lately, felt sad for no reason when looking at Tails. The guilt was always there, and Sonic was completely used to it.

"What made him do that?" Tails' voice was quiet, but it still pierced through the quiet in Sonic's mind. He blinked, the confusion gone. He knew what Tails was thinking about, and the hedgehog looked down at him. Tails continued looking forward. "I mean...he knew it would probably kill him, didn't he?" Sonic was quiet, contemplating on his answer for several seconds.

"...I really don't know," he answered finally, hearing Robotnik's scream of defiance ringing in his ear just before the scientist doomed himself. "He was nearly insane by then. I think he either wanted to walk away with us dead, or not walk away at all." Sonic fell silent, shrugging. Tails thought about his answer, a nod his only response for awhile. Then the kitsune sighed, leaning against the back of the chair as if suddenly tired.

"I wish he could have known what it would have done to himself."

There was a pause. "I think he already knew, Tails."

**xxx**

"Why do you do that?"

Sonic looked up from his book. Since Tails was disabled for awhile, he had taken up reading, as abnormal as it seemed. He actually enjoyed some of the books, and the kitsune had caught him a couple times sneaking into his room and borrowing some books. Right now he was reading something rather interesting, so when Tails spoke, it took Sonic a second to return from the labyrinth of words and into reality.

"Do what?" he asked, lying his book on the table as he looked in confusion at the kitsune, who sat nearby, sipping on hot chocolate. It had been snowing for awhile, and Sonic had to find some way to keep him a little bit warmer. His right arm had healed completely, but his left was still shattered, still in the cast, where it would stay awhile. He could walk better now, as his legs were almost fully healed. He was recovering. But the guilt in Sonic's heart would never be complete.

"That," he said, just as Sonic flinched slightly, as if being struck. The kitsunes blue eyes were hard and questioning, not understanding, and concern flickered with all of that. Sonic said nothing, and Tails continued. "Why do you flinch when you look at me, like its hurts you to do that?" His voice, so different than it had been six months ago, still sounded terribly different now, and Sonic hated the sound of it. He wanted Tails's old voice back. "Why do you look at me like that?"

Sonic was quiet a second, studying Tails before answering. Then he sighed, looking down at his book again. He could read the words, as his mind was on Tails's question. He shook his head, looking back up at Tails.

"Because...I feel guilty," he said, looking away and fiddling with the paper that had begun to rip from the old book. He picked at it, pulled a little, but mostly just focused on it, as if it were the most interesting thing in the world. Tails didn't speak for a few seconds, but when he did, his changed voice was filled with confusion, as if he didn't understand why. Sonic could hear the frustration too; they had been over this right after the accident.

"Sonic, it wasn't your fault," he replied again, and Sonic saw him shake his head from the corner of his eye. "How many times do you have to be told? It wasn't your fault. Everything was Robotnik's." Tails looked at him without blinking. "Everything. Even his own death."

"I know," Sonic replied, shaking his head. "But I could have been faster. I could have stopped him from detonating it. I could have stopped him."

"I don't think so," Tails said, his voice low. "But it could have been worse." He nodded, as if convincing himself.

Sonic said nothing for a minute. "What I don't understand..." He hesitated, and paused. "How did that not kill both of us? I was right there with you. And _you_ were asking _me_ if I was okay, while you were lying there half dead." He closed his eyes, as if listening for the voice he missed. He would never understand how he was almost able to walk away, with only a sprained arm and leg and a few scratches, while Tails was nearly killed. "You were so quiet. Your voice was just..." He stopped there, not daring to open his eyes. He continued staring at the back of his eyelids. It was silent for awhile.

Sonic heard Tails shift nearby, his cast scraping against the tabletop. "I thought I was dead, actually. Especially seeing you lying there. I really believed I was dead...and you were too." Sonic opened his eyes, looking down at his knees. He saw Tails shake his head again. "But then I felt the panic, and then the pain, and I knew I was still alive." Sonic sat there a second, shaking his head gently.

"You did die," he whispered, remembering the feeling vividly when they had to pull Tails from the rubble - the final remains of Robotnik's base - and revive him. He remembered the searing panic that rose in him, the dread and guilt, even as he was being carried away, just hardly conscious, to be treated for his own wounds. He didn't remember seeing Robotnik's remains. Sonic shut his eyes against the scene in front of his eyes. "I thought you were gone...forever."

There was silence for a moment before Tails shifted closer to Sonic, his blue eyes completely solemn. "But I'm not," he whispered back, and he reached for Sonic's hand, placing it on his chest, right above his heart. Sonic opened his eyes and looked at Tails, then down at his hands. "Do you feel that?" Sonic concentrated a moment, and felt the familiar thump-thump of his heart, and nodded.

"...It's still beating," Tails whispered, smiling slightly. Sonic looked up and smiled back.

"Yeah...still beating..."

**xxx**

"...How did we actually walk away from this?"

Sonic said nothing to Tails' question, simply looking in horror and amazement at the ruins of Robotnik's base. All that remained was broken metal and stone. In the blast that nearly killed them all, the whole building had collapsed, which caused Tails's injuries. Both of the two stood there over them, Tails finally standing, his bones newly healed. It had been exactly seven months and three days since they were last here, and it seemed like alot longer than that.

Silently, the two started picking through the ruins, just to see what made it and what didn't. Briefly, Sonic wondered if Robotnik's remains had even been found, but he shook that away. He shifted some rocks below him to look beneath them, seeing the unglowing, dead eyes of one of the scientists many robots. Tails was nearby, looking along the fallen building. The air was strangely motionless, the area completely silent. Sonic found it strange, their silence, as if they were actually respecting Robotnik's death with silence. At the end of his life, the scientist had been driven insane with failures, and planned to kill Sonic and Tails if he had to die with them. Even with that lingering in his thoughts, Sonic swallowed the slight pity and sorrow in his throat, and continued searching the area.

It wasn't long before he found the exact spot he and Tails had lie in before someone had came to their aid. The blood, both his and Tails', was splattered where they had been, while nearby more was splattered against every piece of metal and stone surrounding it. Robotnik's.

Sonic stared at the spot where he and Tails nearly lost their lives because of the tired failures of the scientist. Tails joined him moments later, and the two stared at the blood, the stone, in complete silence. There was something about visiting where they had almost had been killed. Sonic could remember the taste of the chili dog he had eaten only hours before, the joke he and Tails had shared and how hard he laughed. The little details suddenly became very plain, and Sonic blinked, unmoving, simply staring.

Tails sniffed next to him, and his head shook slightly. He shivered into his jacket, and without a sound, as if silently agreeing to leave at the same time, both Sonic and Tails turned and walked away, the only words shared between them from Tails.

"...Just another lucky break, eh, Sonic?"

**xxx**

The time came that Sonic waited for. Tails collapsed that spring, unable to breathe well, falling to the ground unconscious. An ambulance arrived only moments later, taking both the fallen kitsune and the panic-stricken hedgehog to the hospital only a couple miles away. They rushed him in, the kitsune's breathing completely stopped, and Sonic kept pace with them, wishing more than anything they would let him push the gurney, let him push it faster so they could save Tails. But in his current state, his hands so shaky and jerky, he felt he would be unable to perform even that simply task.

They had Tails breathing and conscious before they arrived in the E.R.. Sonic was right there with the doctors and Tails the whole time, his nerves shot and his hands shaking so much he wouldn't have been surprised if they simply jumped from the ends of his arms. He heard the yelling between the doctors, something about a punctured lung, blood in his lungs, filling quickly, must drain. He became almost insane with fear and panic, and only when he hear the hoarse, gurgly, change voice of Tails did he managed to turn from it all, meet his blue eyes, and forced the panic away. The kitsune looked terrified and in pain, and it wouldn't help if Sonic was freaking out. So the hedgehog rushed over, hiding his panic, but unable to mask his worry.

"Sonic..." the kitsune whispered feebly, and Sonic crouched next to him, trying his best to smile, but he couldn't. Instead, when the kitsune reached his arm out carefully to Sonic through the bars, he grabbed it, clutching it tightly in his own. "Sonic...I'm scared..." Sonic didn't need to be told that. He could see the terror in the small kitsunes eyes when he looked at him. And he looked at him as if he would be the one to take it all away. Sonic felt anguish build in his chest and throat, and he swallowed a pained sob.

"It's okay, lil bro," he whispered, the doctors rushing around, shouting at one another, not running fast enough. Sonic didn't look at them though. He simply stared into the blue eyes of the kitsune, clutching his hand tightly. "Just hold on, okay? Don't go to sleep. Promise me." Almost immediately, the kitsune nodded, and yelped in pain, jerking his head around to look at the doctors. The yelp went straight to Sonic's heart, and he cringed, clutching tighter on the kitsunes hands. "No, Tails, look at me! Just at me!" he cried, and immediately Tails looked back, his blue eyes terrified.

"Sonic..." the kitsune whispered, his voice weak, and his breathing heavy. "I can't...I can't breathe." He struggled, and Sonic felt fresh tears spring into his eyes.

"Hang on, lil bro! Don't go to sleep! You promised!" He swallowed the lump in his throat. "Just...just keep looking at me, okay?!" Tails nodding, his blue eyes never leaving Sonic's green ones. The doctors still rushed around him, working and doing everything they could. Sonic only prayed it was enough. He stared at the kitsune.

"Tails...lil bro, I love you," he whispered, squeezing Tails's hand. The kitsune moved his mouth, but not sound came out. Instead, Tails squeezed Sonic's hand twice, and the hedgehog smiled gently. Tails smiled back, his eyes droopy slightly. "Tails...Tails, you promised! You promised!" Tails nodded, and kept his eyes open, straight on Sonic's. The hedgehog listened to the voices of the doctors, the frenzied rushing slowly down. He heard the words passed between them; draining, almost clear, wow, that was close, amazing. He heaved a sigh of relief, still staring at Tails, his eyes for nothing else. And just suddenly, Tails smiled at him. For a second, Sonic's wondered why. Then, he simply smiled back.

**xxx**

When the doctors finally left, leaving Sonic with Tails with only a few words of "still at risk", "very close", and "strong fighter", Tails slipped into unconsciousness, an almost safe one, and Sonic slipped back into his chair and sobbed quietly in relief.

**xxx**

"I really thought I was dead."

Sonic looked up at Tails, sitting in the bed, staring down at the soup in his hand. The hospital room was empty except for the two of them, and the hallways were almost silent. The I.V. connected to Tails's arm dripped, and Sonic could almost hear it. Sonic said nothing, simply watching Tails as the kitsune rolled his bowl of soup in his hands.

"I mean...I literally saw my life flash before my eyes...I saw everything...And I was so scared." He looked up finally, his blue eyes shiny with unshed tears. "And then, you were there. I still can't believe...Can't believe I almost died. But I can't believe I made it either."

In the destruction of the base, Tails had a rib busted, and it was busted so particularly, that the only way for it to fix itself was to completely break in one spot. In the process of that break, the bone had pierced his lung, thus causing all the fluids to escape into his lungs. Tails had almost died, only a breath away from it, as the doctor had put it.

"I mean its just..." He groaned, shaking his head and closing his eyes. "I don't know...I feel like I'm dead. I was...scared."

After a second, Sonic slipped from his seat, padding over to where Tails sat, a small smile on his face. "But you did make it," he said quietly, reaching for the kitsunes hand. The fox looked up at him in surprise, and the hedgehog placed it directly over his heart. After a second, realization leaked into his face, and he blinked at Sonic, who smiled again.

"It's still beating, isn't it?" After a second, Tails nodded, and Sonic lifted his hand again, placing it over his own heart. Tails simply watched his hand curiously. "And mines still beating. We're alive, Tails." He smiled.

"And our hearts are beating to tell us that."

**xxx**

Tails was silent for awhile, even when Sonic walked away to curl up on the chair for the night. Just as he was dozing off, he glanced over at the kitsune, watching the fox place his hand over his heart again. Sonic smiled and turned back around, falling into an actual peaceful sleep.

**End of Story**

_Okay, so what happened..._

_Sonic and Tails were, of course, fighting Robotnik, who was getting more serious with his plans every day. This time, Robotnik couldn't take it anymore. He self-destructed his base, blowing up himself and Sonic and Tails. The scientist was killed in the blast, and hardly anything remained of him. Sonic sprained his right leg and left arm, and had a deep cut just above his eyebrow, which would scar. Tails, on the other hand, had a shattered left arm, a fractured right arm, two broken legs (one not as serious as the other), and a pierce of metal sliced through his larynx, for he was the closet to Robotnik when the 'bomb' went off. Tails had to be revived, as he died just as the paramedics reached him. Sonic was unconscious, but Tails' voice awoke him just enough so he could feel and see what was going on. Tails falls into a short coma, awakes in three days. Thats really all that needed to be cleared up. :)_

_Hope you enjoyed! Reviews are awesome! Remember that._


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